2017
2017 was a bittersweet year.
We lost 3 beloved members of our extended family and welcomed 2 new members.
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Mark Widmer was a deeply loving husband, father and grandfather. He was big-hearted and endlessly patient, and possessed a quick wit and dry sense of humor. A committed educator, Mark retired after 35 years as a teacher and administrator with District 200. Through his career and as a founding Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 329, he was a positive influence in the lives of hundreds of young people.
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Carol Billone had a unique ability to relate to people in all walks of life in both the deaf and hearing communities. Her warm and enormous heart drew people to her. Carol taught at Marlton School for the deaf, and was California State Teacher of the Year in 1976. Carol was the first woman director of the World Games for the Deaf, and served as President of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission.
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Ray Pachciarz had a generous heart, and always enjoyed most spending time with his large family. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather, with 5 children and 14 grandchildren. Ray served in the US military and retired in Rankin, Illinois close to Danville where he was born. He was a music lover and played the accordian and guitar, among other instruments.
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<== Samuel Thomas Oakes was born in January, and lives with his Mom and Dad in Madison, WI. Conrad James Kelley-Widmer ==>
was born in June, and lives with his Mom and Dad and his big brother in Ithaca, NY. |
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Arjay (front & center) came to visit. An exchange student from the Philippine Islands, he lived with Carl's family when he was in high school. We hadn't seen him in over 40 years!
We had good times with good friends.
We celebrated Mom's 90th birthday.
Paula and Carl in Big Basin Redwoods state park.
Tree planting in memory of Mark.
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The big, happy event for us this year was the August wedding of Judy and Matt in Santa Cruz, California. There's just so much to say about this, we have a whole separate page of wedding pictures: Wedding Page 
Matt tried his hand at horse training, during a Thanksgiving visit.
Carl and Paula performed at Make Music Madison.
We visited Judy and Matt in Feb, and met Matt's wonderful parents. We rented a B&B for the wedding in August
We visited David and Jakki in Berkeley.
Judy with her friend, Uno.
Walt and his Mom came for Tgiving.
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We put the dock in at the cabin, and took it out.
We gave away our ping pong table and converted the room to a guest bedroom.
We gave up on painting, and had the house sided.
We dressed for the occasion.
Paula and her sister Judy, at daughter Judy's wedding.
Marlon and his Dad on the pier in Santa Cruz.
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Our church family celebrated the 50th anniversary of Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society.
Paula and Carl are both in this picture - can you find us?
Paula and Carl are both in this picture - can you find us?
Sky continued to work toward getting her driver's license . . . . and completed her first semester at Madison College - earning high grades in the Architectural Technology program!
EW's ticket for feeding the homeless was dismissed without a challenge. This issue made national news, including the front page of the State Journal newspaper in Madison. |
Marlon and EW are still in Atlanta. The Teardown continues to serve as a hub for hands-on work to make positive, meaningful social change and to help those in need.
Ongoing projects include: Food Not Bombs - feeding the homeless every Sundy. Copwatch - monitoring and filming police actions to ensure safety and accountability. Black Cross - supporting people struggling against injustice in the prison system. |
She helped paint the house, and tried her hand at illustrating a book, to be published in 2018. 
M & E came to Santa Cruz for Judy and Matt's wedding in August.
Marlon accepted a new job, working remotely on tech support for a San Francisco firm. He starts in Jan. 
Marlon's Mom, Robin also devotes a lot of time and energy to working for social justice. She works as a special ed teacher in Maryland.
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Judy still spends as much time with her horse Cali as she can.
Matt and Judy visited in July. Matt was happy for a chance to relax! |
Judy's big announcement came at Thanksgiving: She's pregnant! Due in May. We each wrote something we were thankful for on a scrap of paper, and read all the notes out loud. Judy's note got the biggest reaction by far! 
And, in 2017 Matt got a new father in law ===>
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When she's not riding, Judy works as a "software engineer" for a startup outfit in Mountain View, CA where she and Matt live.
Matt's employer, Linked In, was acquired by Microsoft. As a bonus they got Matt along with the deal!
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Matt is in training to fly a pedal powered airplane. He completed the Turkey Trot in Madison to stay in shape.
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After their wedding, Judy and Matt went to the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. |
They built a geodesic dome for shelter at the festival! |
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Tashi continues to hang out pretty much wherever she wants.
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A fox killed all 4 of our chickens when we let them run in the yard.
We have 4 new chickens now, all safe in the coop. |
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Paula continued her busy schedule of volunteer work in 2017:
Volunteer tutor at Orchard Ridge Elementary.
Volunteer for The Road Home, serving homeless children and families.
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Coordinator, cook, and server for breakfast at Porchlight men's homeless shelter.
Volunteer with Centro Hispano in Madison.
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Allied Drive food pantry buyer and volunteer.
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Singing in the Prairie UU choir, teaching Religious Education, serving as the RE Committee chair, teaching OWL, and contributing in other ways to the life of our church.
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Paula created several new works of art in 2017, including these cookies. 
Paula celebrated another birthday. 
Paula wrote a short, funny skit which was accepted for production as one of the "Wrong for the Part" shorts. She and Gary had fun acting in "Supergirl".
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Painting.
Paula finally achieved her goal of becoming a professional actress! She earned $20 for her role in a Beta Blockers production.
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A necklace hanger, made from a cedar branch, with a dragon's head!
A tile mosaic of Judy's horse, Cali.
As we enter 2018, Paula is hard at work rehearsing for her role in Beauty and the Beast, which will be performed by the St. Bernard Players in February.
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Carl enjoyed some horseback rides and some bicycle rides in 2017.
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He served as a poll worker.
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He started work on new garden beds. 2 down, 4 to go!
Carl grew a few actual crops, and lots of weeds. He occasionally volunteered at Three Gaits, a therapeutic horse center near Stoughton. 
Carl volunteered at the Allied Drive food pantry, and continued to serve as the accompianist for the Prairie UU choir.
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He wore out 2 more pairs of boots working with the horses!
Carl started a video series, following his training sessions with Big Red. You can watch the series here.
Still playing racquetball 2x a week. (but starting to give up on his dream of making the pro circuit)
He co-taught the Prairie UU middle-school religious education class, a curriculum based on lessons to be learned from Star Wars.
From our family to yours We wish you a happy and healthy 2018 |
Carl even tried his hand at polo!
Carl and Jean finally had to say goodbye to Kidd, Jean's sweet natured gelding who grew up on her farm. Carl started Kidd & worked with him for 7 years. Kidd found a good home in Illiniois.
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